…Majority of respondents report capacity utilisation in the range of 75-100% - for the third quarter now in a row.: CII Business Outlook Survey

New Delhi - The robust macro fundamentals of the Indian economy despite the global headwinds got mirrored in an uptick of the CII Business Confidence Index (CII-BCI) to a three-quarter high of 67.1 in the Jul-Sep quarter FY24 as compared to a reading of 66.1 in the previous quarter and 62.2 in the same quarter last year. The reading reaffirms the sustained positive momentum seen in host of high frequency indicators such as GST collection, air & rail passenger traffic, PMIs among others in the second quarter. The buoyancy seen in rural demand in the recent period, too, was mirrored by the results of the survey which established that nearly half of the respondents (52 per cent) anticipate an improvement in rural demand in the first half of the current fiscal.

Commenting on the latest findings of the 124th CII Business Outlook Survey, Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII said, “The improvement in CII Business Confidence Index to a three-quarter high in the second quarter of FY24 is encouraging and reiterates the on-ground experience of most of the industry players. The expectation of an improvement in rural demand is reassuring and is much required for the inclusive growth of the economy”.

Majority of the respondents (66 per cent) feel that the Indian economy will grow in the range of 6.0-7.0 per cent in FY24, broadly in line with the forecast of RBI and other multilateral agencies. On interest rates, more than half of the respondents (58 per cent) anticipate that RBI will stick with a pause on the repo rate in the second half of the current fiscal to let the lagged impact of the rate hikes effected so far to work through the system.

The survey results highlighted that about 55 per cent of the respondents are of the view that improving ease of doing business along with government’s thrust on capital spending, especially in infrastructure related sectors will help further crowd-in private investments. This will stimulate growth in other sectors of the economy through its multiplier effect.